The Academy Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very happy and content. They enjoy their nursery experiences, make friends and form close relationships with their peers and the staff caring for them. Children show that they feel safe as they talk happily with their friends. They understand the nursery routines and rules. Children are polite and respectful and they show great kindness and care towards each other.

Staff have high expectations of children and successfully help them to develop the necessary skills for their future learning. Generally, staff support children's learning and development well. For example, the curriculum is tailored to children's individual needs and interests. Staff incorporate mathematics well into a range of everyday activities. This is helping children develop particularly well in this area. Children show an interest in mathematics and have good mathematical skills, such as counting, recognising numbers and matching colours. They remember what they have learned and work out that 'four children' plus 'four more' means that there are eight children in total.

The nursery closed during the first COVID-19 (coronavirus) lockdown. The manager made regular calls to parents of those children not attending to check on their welfare. As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders reviewed the collection arrangements. Parents now drop children off at the door and staff carry out regular parent meetings via telephone.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They say they are extremely happy with their children's progress and feel that staff really take their time getting to know their children. Parents feel very well informed about their children's learning and welcome ideas on how to support children's learning at home.
• Children play cooperatively and behave well. They learn to respect each other and take part in establishing rules so they learn what is expected of them.
• Staff talk to children throughout their play and encourage good understanding. They have a clear comprehension of how children develop their conversation skills. They use songs to help support children's use of sounds to encourage them to pronounce words. However, on some occasions, the staff do not ask open-ended questions to encourage children to think and fully express their thoughts and ideas.
• Staff do not organise group activities well enough to fully engage every child taking part. These activities are sometimes too long and challenging for the youngest children.
• Children have good levels of independence in their self-care. Older children can put their coats and wellies on. Younger children show a willingness to 'have a go' and do things for themselves.
• The manager and staff monitor children's progress closely. This enables them to quickly recognise any gaps in development and provide children with individual support to catch up in their learning. All children make good progress.
• Children have good opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, they dance to music, ride on trikes, skip and jump. They develop a good understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. For example, they know that raising their pulse rate through exercise is good for the heart and learn how to make healthy food choices.
• Staff are calm, caring and kind and form good relationships with children. Consequently, children are happy, settled and are confident. Staff continuously offer praise, which helps children build their self-esteem and feel proud of their achievements.
• The dedicated and passionate manager shows a good commitment to the professional development of her team. This plays an integral part in the development of the nursery. The manager places a high priority on the well-being of staff. As a result, staff feel valued and enjoy working at the nursery. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively. Staff consider how additional funding is spent and check that it is making the intended difference for those children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the ways staff develop children's confidence to talk about their play and learning experiences
• organise group activities more effectively to fully include and engage all those taking part, particularly the youngest children.